Anacapa Scholar: Dr. Elliott West
Dr. West educated the community on the history of our noble companions: the horse.
All year long, the campus welcomes visiting scholars, artists in residence, and other guests who share their special expertise. Some become members of the campus community for extended periods of time, others are here only briefly to deliver lectures or meet with students.
Recently, we welcomed a professor of history specializing in the American West.
Visitor: Dr. Elliott West, alumni distinguished professor of history at the University of Arkansas. He is a specialist in the history of the American West, in particular social, environmental, and American Indian history. He has written eight books ranging in topics from children and childhood on the frontier to the environmental history of the Great Plains. Dr. West has twice been recognized as teacher of the year, and in 1995 the Carnegie Foundation named him the Arkansas professor of the year. Additionally, in 2009 he was one of three finalists for the Robert Foster Cherry Award for the outstanding classroom teacher in the nation.
His current work: Dr. West continues his work as a professor of history at the University of Arkansas where he has worked since 1979.
What he did on campus: While on campus Dr. West visited and taught classes; he gave an all-school lecture; he attended a luncheon the following day with students and faculty to continue the conversation from the previous night and answer questions; he met with the history department during our regularly scheduled meeting time to discuss parallels and differences between independent school and university level teaching; he met with the junior class to discuss his career as a historian and to talk about research and scholarship (as the juniors are all working on research papers); he chatted with students informally on the pergola and at dinner about their paper topics and ideas.
His impressions of Thacher: My visit at Thacher was quite wonderful. As for impressions, I suppose I would start with the extraordinarily beautiful setting, the first thing noticed, that distinctive California hill country, a lot drier than usual but still gorgeous. The students I found smart, inquisitive, great senses of humor, and that combination of respect and willingness to engage their teachers that gives this aging teacher faith in the rising generation. As for faculty (and the question of what surprised me on the visit), I was hugely impressed by the dedication and the determination to be there—and to be there as teachers, advisors and friends—for students at all times (at least while they were awake). It is a level of commitment that, frankly, most of us would find exhausting, but it is clearly what has drawn these teachers to that work and to that place. I was also struck by the easy informality of Thacher. By happenstance, the only other private boarding school I've ever visited was one on the East Coast last month, and while I was struck there, too, at the commitment of faculty and the quality of students, the "feel" of Thacher was far more, well, Western, which to me felt more at home.
Our impressions of him:
I'm in the middle of a research paper on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, and I was lucky enough to talk to Dr. West, who has actually been on the reservation itself. His personal experience with the current state of the reservation really deepened my understanding of the topic, and shifting the nature of my paper from being one of facts and figures to an exploration of a living culture. The combination of his experience and vast historical knowledge made him an incredible source to access.—Talia Isaacson '16
Dr. Elliott West might be the most distinguished historian Thacher has ever had on campus, perhaps since the days of the great (and our very own) David Lavendar. Many of his peers regard him as the preeminent writer today on the West. His visit represented a coup for our school and a wonderful opportunity for the Thacher community to benefit from his keen mind, deep appreciation for western history, and his kind and gentle manner.—Jason Carney, Chair of the History Department
Back
Recently, we welcomed a professor of history specializing in the American West.
Visitor: Dr. Elliott West, alumni distinguished professor of history at the University of Arkansas. He is a specialist in the history of the American West, in particular social, environmental, and American Indian history. He has written eight books ranging in topics from children and childhood on the frontier to the environmental history of the Great Plains. Dr. West has twice been recognized as teacher of the year, and in 1995 the Carnegie Foundation named him the Arkansas professor of the year. Additionally, in 2009 he was one of three finalists for the Robert Foster Cherry Award for the outstanding classroom teacher in the nation.
His current work: Dr. West continues his work as a professor of history at the University of Arkansas where he has worked since 1979.
What he did on campus: While on campus Dr. West visited and taught classes; he gave an all-school lecture; he attended a luncheon the following day with students and faculty to continue the conversation from the previous night and answer questions; he met with the history department during our regularly scheduled meeting time to discuss parallels and differences between independent school and university level teaching; he met with the junior class to discuss his career as a historian and to talk about research and scholarship (as the juniors are all working on research papers); he chatted with students informally on the pergola and at dinner about their paper topics and ideas.
His impressions of Thacher: My visit at Thacher was quite wonderful. As for impressions, I suppose I would start with the extraordinarily beautiful setting, the first thing noticed, that distinctive California hill country, a lot drier than usual but still gorgeous. The students I found smart, inquisitive, great senses of humor, and that combination of respect and willingness to engage their teachers that gives this aging teacher faith in the rising generation. As for faculty (and the question of what surprised me on the visit), I was hugely impressed by the dedication and the determination to be there—and to be there as teachers, advisors and friends—for students at all times (at least while they were awake). It is a level of commitment that, frankly, most of us would find exhausting, but it is clearly what has drawn these teachers to that work and to that place. I was also struck by the easy informality of Thacher. By happenstance, the only other private boarding school I've ever visited was one on the East Coast last month, and while I was struck there, too, at the commitment of faculty and the quality of students, the "feel" of Thacher was far more, well, Western, which to me felt more at home.
Our impressions of him:
I'm in the middle of a research paper on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, and I was lucky enough to talk to Dr. West, who has actually been on the reservation itself. His personal experience with the current state of the reservation really deepened my understanding of the topic, and shifting the nature of my paper from being one of facts and figures to an exploration of a living culture. The combination of his experience and vast historical knowledge made him an incredible source to access.—Talia Isaacson '16
Dr. Elliott West might be the most distinguished historian Thacher has ever had on campus, perhaps since the days of the great (and our very own) David Lavendar. Many of his peers regard him as the preeminent writer today on the West. His visit represented a coup for our school and a wonderful opportunity for the Thacher community to benefit from his keen mind, deep appreciation for western history, and his kind and gentle manner.—Jason Carney, Chair of the History Department
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